Disclaimer: Beauty and the Beast is not mine; it belongs to its respective creators. Harry Potter is also not mine - it's all J.K. Rowling's and other companies'. The only thing that I own is this fic.
Summary: He was the cruel, obnoxious prince. She was the plain girl who one night stumbled into his castle in search for her father. A retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," Harry/Hermione style.
Author's Note: I'll be honest - I really don't like this chapter that much. It contains nothing but exposition, and it was really troublesome to write. Nevertheless, I'll keep my fingers crossed on the next one being better.
I would like to say thank you so much for the reviews, everyone. :) I honestly didn't expect to get that many. Shows how wrong authors can be sometimes, eh? My responses are at the end of the chapter.
And lastly, Mark's is a bookshop located in Hermione's village.
Enjoy . . I hope?
This goes out to Courtney, once again. Thanks for being such a wonderful friend, hon.
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The Beast and the Unlikely Beauty
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Chapter One: Hermione
~
While the prince locked himself up in his castle to wallow in his gloom and misery, a nearby village was buzzing with activity.
It was a normal day for the people; some walked to market, looking for bargains, others chatted with their neighbors, and yet there were those who simply sat quietly in the background and just watched the hubbub going on all around them.
The clamor died down once all of the villagers caught sight of Mr. Granger, the local inventor, and his daughter, Hermione.
This was an unusual occurrence - rarely, if ever, did the Grangers venture out of their home that was located at the outskirts of the village. And seldom did anyone ever see Mr. Granger himself; the man was always busy inventing something interesting or trying to fix whatever did not work - which most of the time were his inventions.
They would see Hermione all the time, though - "always with a head in a book," remarked many of them.
They considered her to be even odder than her father - "who reads all the time with her head buried in the pages of a book, and never thinks to have fun?" complained a few.
"A right clone to her crazy inventor of a father," commented those who were completely tactful.
To go with that reasoning, the Grangers themselves were considered "odd" - they seldom socialized, and absorbed themselves with the (seemingly) mundane - namely, books and inventions.
It was also believed that ever since Mr. Granger's wife died of the plague a few years ago, he had lost all interest in his life, and now only filled his hours with inventing all sorts of whimsical, funny things.
The same could be said for his daughter, Hermione, who was known as the village book lover. She could be seen walking through the town avidly reading a book, and when she was done with it, she would go to Mark's and borrow a new one. It was a continuing cycle: the more Hermione read, the more she became enthralled with what books held within their pages.
It was honestly no wonder that the villagers thought this way, seeing as they led rather mundane lives themselves, and didn't bother with other people's affairs. They wouldn't understand either, as the Grangers found their greatest joy in reading and discovering new things.
On this particular day, though, while everyone was busy staring at the Grangers as if they'd never seen them before, the subjects in question were going about their own business, as if nothing was wrong. They noted the stares, but ignored them. People's interest would eventually dwindle, they thought. And they were right. The villagers' attention soon shifted onto other things and chatter reached a fever pitch.
One person, however, kept his gaze fixed firmly on the Grangers. Beside him, a rather stout and plump whale of a person watched, stuffing his face with cake.
The taller person maliciously smirked. "Would you look at that, Dudley? It's the Mudblood Grangers - I never thought that they'd actually have the courage to venture out of their safe little safety net.
"I wonder though," he pondered, "Old Man Granger hasn't been seen here for many months; d'you suppose that he's making yet another kooky device that will never work?"
"That's a rhetorical question, Draco," the chubby man retorted, "I'd almost bet my money on it." He hiccuped.
"Honestly, you're such a pig," Draco muttered, disgusted. Then a evil glint appeared in his eyes. "Too bad, though - Granger's daughter is dead useful. She would be a perfect puppet for me. Mine to control." His eyes glittered. "And what better opportunity to marry her than now?"
Dudley nearly spit out a mouthful of cake. "Wh-what?" he sputtered, coughing. "Have you gone mad, Draco?"
"No, no," the blond man chuckled softly. "Actually, this fits perfectly into my plan." There was a tinge of something underlying his words.
"But what could you possibly want from them?" Dudley asked, bewildered. "They have absolutely nothing that is of any importance to you. No wealth, no high social status to speak of - well, granted, you belong to the richest family in town, so that's of no concern to you."
Draco smirked again. "You're missing the point, my dear Dudley. Although the Grangers don't have anything to speak of - they do need something. Wealth. And I'll be the one to give it to them."
This time, Dudley stared at him, as if his idol had truly gone mad. "What?" he said stupidly.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Come with me and see the master at work," he said smoothly, and walked off, his cape billowing behind hm.
- - -
"Hermione! Oh, Hermione!"
The girl in question stopped walking, reluctantly closed her book and looked at the dashing young man who was now by her side. "Hello, Draco," she greeted warmly.
He looked surreptitiously at the book and then grabbed it.
Hermione stifled the urge not to huff impatiently at him. "May I have my book back, please?"
"How can you read this?" He wondered, gaping. "There's no pictures!"
"Some people use their imaginations," a small smile formed on her mouth.
He sighed heavily, as if he were disappointed in her. "Hermione, Hermione . . it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things . . like me!" He grinned and threw her book into a nearby mud puddle.
Hermione looked at him doubtfully.
"It's not right for a woman to read," he continued, delighting in the fact that he had her attention now, "soon she gets ideas . . . and actually thinking . . "
"You're absolutely primeval, Draco," Hermione said, amused, picking up her mud splattered book and cleaning it with her apron.
"Why, thank you, Hermione," he flashed her a charming smile, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "What do you say you and me take a walk over to the tavern and have a look at my archery trophies."
"Maybe some other time," she said firmly. "I can't - I have to get home and help my father." And with that, she left.
"See the pro at work, huh?" sneered Dudley, appearing from behind Draco. "That was masterful, Draco."
The blond huffed. "I'll get her yet," he vowed. "Mark my words here and now: I will, or the Malfoy name shall be tarnished forever and I'll be forced to live in shame for the rest of my life."
"Sure, you do that," Dudley whispered quietly to himself. "You do that, Draco."
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Author's Note 2: And that concludes chapter one. I know that it's shorter than the prologue - but I wanted to cut it off here, in preparation for what's coming up. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :) And if not, please tell me your questions/annoyances/comments about it, or the story in general, and I'll give you my best answer.
Now for the review responses!
hernndzzz - Thank you for your comment! And in response to your question - yes, I'm planning on continuing this. So don't worry; I'm not going to abandon it or anything.
Hermiones Twin - Hehe, thank you so much for your review, Sis. I'm glad to know that you like it! And thanks for the warning. ;P
~Emma Granger~ - Thank you! I'll try my best to make this story meet your expectations :)
harryherm84 - First of all, thank you for your review! And to answer your question; no, this story is not going to be exactly like the movie. I'm going to add some twists here and there to make the story a bit different from Disney's version.
Ravenclaw's heir - Thanks for the comment! Unfortunately, I couldn't make this chapter longer; however, the next one definitely will be.
BLW - Firstly, thank you for your review. :) I chose to make Harry's eyes yellow instead of green since I thought it would best suit him in his beast form. Also, I have a feeling that Harry would know/sense the difference between having his parents there and then the next minute them being gone . . you could call it a baby's intuition, I guess. After all, when he was little, he would know when his parents were there with him, and when they weren't. I'm very sorry for confusing you; hopefully I cleared some things up for you.
PhoenixFirebolt - Oh, silly me, I should've checked first then, before assuming. *blush* Thank you for your comment!
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